Bulk funding hurts Waiouru kindergartens

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 447, 4 August 1992, Page 11

Bulk funding hurts Waiouru kindergartens

BY

JULIE

RICHARDSON

A special meeting was held last week to discuss how bulk funding is affecting the two Waiouru kindergartens. At the meeting held on 30 July, were 25 Waiouru parents and staff and two members of the Ruahine Kindergarten Association, which administers Weir Terrace and Kenningston Street kindergartens. Because both the Waiouru kindergartens are currently under-en-rolled, the other kindergartens in the Association are subsidising Waiouru kindergartens, the meeting heard. Association representatives Kath Woods and Marita

Broadhurst explained that even if full rolls on both kindergartens were achieved immediately and maintained for the rest of the year, this would still leave a defxcit in running costs of $20,000 for Waiouru. This will adversely affect the amount of bulk funding the Association can ask for next year. Jan Arthur, who has taught at both Waiouru kindergartens this year, says that lower rolls at Weir Terrace Kindergarten this year will affect next year's grant, just as lower rolls at Kenningston Street last year are affecting funding this year.

Parents not only in Waiouru but also from the wider community are urged to enrol their children at Weir Terrace or Kenningston Street kindergartens on the child's second birthday, so that rolls can be filled and forecasting of projected rolls can be kept fully up-dated. Bulk funding for kindergartens is a government grant to pay teachers' salaries and some kindergarten running costs. Because it is a grant, GST, ACC levies and some Association administration costs must be paid from it. The amount of funding is based on 'child hours', which means that although teachers are paid for 52 weeks of the year, money for salaries must be provided from funds for the 39 weeks that kindergartens are open. In paying teachers salaries, kindergarten associations have additional concerns. Bulk funding includes no increments which may be due teachers as their years in the job increase, nor any to which they may be entitled for gaining extra qualifications. No allowance is included for relieving teachers' travelling costs when a full-time staff member is sick and in fact little funding exists for the payment of relieving teachers at all.

The Ruahine Kindergarten Association estimates that bulk funding for its total teachers salaries is inadequate to the tune of over $90,000 this financial year. Funding is calculated on the number of children who attended kindergarten last year, not the number of teachers employed this year. For example, for part of last year at Kenningston Street Kindergarten there was only 1 qualified teacher and 1 unqualified

reliever; this year there are two qualified teachers. Weir Terrace Kindergarten also has one more qualified teacher than last year. The teacher-child ratio is based on the maximum number of children allowed at individual kindergartens, with some consideration where a special-needs teacher is required. Waiouru is particularly disadvantaged by the bulk-funding system because the numbers of kindergarten- age children can be affected al-

most daily by Forces postings, although children from the local area are welcome and encouraged to attend. The Ruahine Association has asked for Waiouru to be treated as a special-case in negotiating for next year's bulk funding, but if rolls are not increased it may be faced with difficult choices. The main options are to either reduce the rolls allowed for Waiouru kindergartens, or to increase the allowed roll in one kindergarten and

close the other facility altogether. The Association does wish to provide the best possible facilities for children and does not wish to lose any teaching positions. If necessary it would try to relocate a Waiouru teacher. It was explained to the meeting that if the Ruahine Kindergarten Association cannot show the government that it has responsibly managed this year's funds, it will be in a weaker position to negotiate for the next financial year.